User’s Guide Acronis® True Image Echo Server for Windows
Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2009. All rights reserved. “Acronis” and “Acronis Secure Zone” are registered trademarks of Acronis, Inc. "Acronis Compute with Confidence", “Acronis Startup Recovery Manager”, “Acronis Active Restore” and the Acronis logo are trademarks of Acronis, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.
Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction ......................................................................................7 1.1 Acronis® True Image Echo Server – a complete solution for corporate users ............................7 1.2 New in Acronis True Image Echo Server ..............................................................................8 1.3 Supported file systems and storage media ...........................................................................9 1.3.
5.3.4 Database support ...................................................................................................... 36 5.3.5 Compression level ..................................................................................................... 37 5.3.6 Backup performance ................................................................................................. 37 5.3.7 Fast incremental/differential backup ........................................................................... 38 5.3.
8.5 Deleting Acronis Secure Zone ........................................................................................... 72 Chapter 9. Creating bootable media .................................................................73 9.1 Creating Acronis rescue media .......................................................................................... 73 9.2 Creating a Win PE ISO with Acronis True Image Echo Server .............................................. 75 Chapter 10. Operations with archives...
15.1.1 TrueImageCmd.exe supported commands ............................................................... 104 15.1.2 Common options (options common for most trueimagecmd commands) .................... 107 15.1.3 Specific options (options specific for individual trueimagecmd commands).................. 108 15.1.4 Trueimagecmd.exe usage examples ........................................................................ 113 15.1.5 Ebasrvdb.exe tool: generate an XML file with the backup mapping details .........
Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 Acronis® True Image Echo Server – a complete solution for corporate users Acronis True Image Echo Server is a comprehensive backup and recovery solution for a Windows-based server. Acronis True Image Echo Server creates a transportable image, independent of the hardware platform that can be restored directly to and from any virtual or physical environment. Minimizes downtime Acronis True Image Echo Server enables you to restore systems in minutes, not hours or days.
A feature that allows you to suspend database activity for several seconds is provided so that you can create a valid image of mission-critical applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. This database suspension process supports Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). If your database or operating system does not support VSS, Acronis True Image Echo Server will execute your custom commands to execute database suspension.
Archive bit reset (file-level backup only) Generating time-based names for backup files Recovery Recovery of dynamic volumes Recovery of system dynamic volumes on dissimilar hardware using Acronis Universal Restore or Acronis Active Restore Scheduling Schedule archive validation Start every N hours within daily schedule Start on free disk space change by the specified amount Cloning a task Notification via e-mail Multiple e-mail addresses From and Subject fields Logon to incoming mail server Operations with
• Reiser4 • Linux SWAP • XFS • JFS • DFS If a file system is not supported or is corrupted, Acronis True Image Echo Server can copy data using a sector-by-sector approach. For XFS and JFS file systems the partition resizing feature is not supported. 1.3.
patches, updates and other changes that Acronis, at its sole discretion, makes or adds to the Software and which Acronis makes generally available, without additional charge, to other licensees of the Software that are enrolled in Support.
Chapter 2. Acronis True Image Echo Server installation and startup 2.1 System requirements 2.1.1 Minimum hardware requirements Acronis True Image Echo Server requires the following hardware: • Pentium processor or higher • 512MB RAM • FDD or CD-RW drive for bootable media creation • Mouse (recommended). 2.1.
Acronis True Image Echo Server Install Window 2.2.1 Installation of Acronis True Image Echo Server Typical, Custom and Complete installation is available. Having pressed Custom, you can choose to install, besides the Acronis True Image Echo Server, Rescue Media Builder and Bart PE plug-in. With Rescue Media Builder you can create bootable rescue disks or RIS packages (see details in Chapter 9. Creating bootable media).
Acronis Universal Restore can be installed on a networked computer either locally, by running the setup program, or remotely, using one of remote installation services such as Systems Management Server (a component of Microsoft Windows NT BackOffice program package). After installation, Acronis Universal Restore automatically plugs in one or more of above program components. Acronis True Image Echo Server name, displayed in its main window, changes to Acronis True Image Echo Server with Universal Restore.
Chapter 3. General information and proprietary Acronis technologies 3.1 The difference between file archives and disk/partition images A backup archive is a file or a group of files (also called in this guide “backups”), that contains a copy of selected files/folders data or a copy of all information stored on selected disks/partitions. When you back up files and folders, only the data, along with the folder tree, is compressed and stored.
A standalone, full backup could be an optimal solution if you often roll back the system to the initial state (for example, systems in a gaming club or Internet café where you need to undo changes made by the guests). In this case, you need not re-create the initial full image, so the backup time is not crucial and the restore time will be minimal.
Acronis Secure Zone contents can be viewed directly from Windows Explorer. Open My Computer (Start -> My computer, or Start -> Run… -> explorer /n, /e, /select, c:\ ) and double-click on the Acronis Secure Zone icon. In the window that opens, all backup archives stored in the zone along with their creation dates will be listed. However, viewing backup archive contents, backup restoration, consolidation, and deleiton can be perfomed from Acronis True Image Echo Server only. For more information, see 8.
Here’s an example of how you would use this feature. If failure occurs on a computer, turn on the computer and press F11 when you see the "Press F11 for Acronis Startup Recovery Manager" message. This will run a standalone version of Acronis True Image Echo Server that only slightly differs from the complete version. For information on restoring damaged partitions, see Chapter 6. Restoring the backup data.
2. Create the Acronis Secure Zone on the server hard disk (see Chapter 8. Managing the Acronis Secure Zone). 3. Activate Acronis Startup Recovery manager (see 3.4 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager) and create bootable media or RIS package with Acronis True Image Echo Server (see Chapter 9. Creating bootable media). 4. Back up (image) the server’s system disk to Acronis Secure Zone (see 5.2 Backing up disks and partitions (image backup)).
3.6.2 Acronis Universal Restore general principles 1. Automatic HAL and mass storage drivers selection Acronis Universal Restore searches the Windows default driver storage folders (in the image being restored) for HAL and mass storage device drivers and installs drivers that better fit the target hardware. You can specify a custom driver repository (a folder or folders on a network drive or CD) which will also be used for drivers search.
2. The Acronis Universal Restore option does not work if a computer is booted with Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (using F11) or the backup image is located in Acronis Secure Zone. This is because Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and Acronis Secure Zone are primarily meant for instant data recovery on the same computer. 3.6.5 Getting Acronis Universal Restore Acronis Universal Restore is an add-on to Acronis True Image Echo Server.
5. As soon as the tape is full, a dialog window with a request to insert a new tape will appear. Low-quality or old tape, as well as dirt on the magnetic head, might lead to pauses that can last up to several minutes. Implementation notice Due to the wide variety of tape libraries and configuration complexity, for detailed information on how to implement Acronis True Image Echo Server with tape drives please contact Acronis support specialists. 3.7.
Chapter 4. Using Acronis True Image Echo Server Acronis True Image Echo Server supports the GUI mode, the command-line mode, and can be used to execute XML scripts. Here we describe the operations available in the GUI mode, which provides the widest functionality. For console commands and scripting please see Chapter 15. Command-line mode and scripting. 4.1 Main program window The main program window contains the menu, the toolbar, the sidebar and the main area.
• Explore and Validate Backup Archives – explore file-level archives, mount disk/partition images as virtual drives, run the archive integrity checking procedure • Manage Hard Disks – clone disk (i.e.
Most of the operations are represented two or even three times in different window areas, providing several ways to select them for more convenience. For example, you can start the necessary operation or tool by clicking its icon in the main area or by selecting the same item from the Operations or Tools menu. Status bar There is a status bar divided into two parts at the bottom of the main window.
7. Scheduling tasks. Run, stop, edit, clone, rename, delete Click Tasks in the Manage Tasks group backup and archive validation tasks or select the Task Scheduling category on the sidebar to navigate to the Scheduled Tasks window. See details in 7.2 Managing scheduled tasks. Archives Management Explore any archive’s contents and restore Select Tools -> Explore Backup Archive individual files from any archive and follow the wizard’s instructions. See details in 10.2.
Format partitions on a new hard disk See Chapter 14. Adding a new hard disk. Other Tools Create bootable rescue media, its ISO or See Chapter 9. Creating bootable media. RIS package Turn on/off Windows System Restore tool See 11.5 Managing System Restore. Some of the above operations can be executed in command-line mode. For more information on Acronis True Image Echo Server command-line mode see 15.1 Working in the command-line mode. 27 Copyright © Acronis, Inc.
Chapter 5. Creating backup archives To be able to restore the lost data or roll back your system to a predetermined state, you should first create a data or entire system backup file. If you are not concerned about restoration of your operating system along with all settings and applications, but plan to keep safe only certain data (the current project, for example), choose file/folder backup. This will reduce the archive size, thus saving disk space and possibly reducing removable media costs.
You can also apply custom filters, using the common Windows masking rules. For example, to exclude all files with extension .exe, add *.exe. My???.exe will exclude all .exe files with names consisting of five symbols and starting with “my”. All of these settings will take effect for the current task. For information on how to set the default filters that will be called each time you create a file backup task, see 5.3.2 Source files exclusion. 5. Select the name and location of the archive.
The “farther” you store the archive from the original folders, the safer it will be in case of data damage. For example, saving the archive to another hard disk will protect your data if the primary disk is damaged, but won’t be useful if the computer is destroyed in a fire or flood. Data saved to a network disk, ftp server or removable media will survive even if all your local hard disks are down. You can also use Acronis Secure Zone (see details in 3.3 Acronis Secure Zone) for storing backups.
7. Select the backup options (that is, backup file splitting, compression level, password protection, pre/post backup commands etc.). You may select Use default options or Set the options manually. If the latter is the case, the settings will be applied only to the current backup task. Alternatively, you can edit the default options from the current screen. Then your settings will be saved as the defaults. See 5.3 Setting backup options for more information. 8. Provide a comment for the archive.
You can adjust the backup process priority. To do so, click on the process icon in the System Tray and select Low, Normal, or High priority from the menu that appears. For information on how to set the default priority, see 5.3.6 Backup performance. 11. You may want to see the log when the task is completed. To view the log, click the Show Operation Logs button on the toolbar.
4. Select the name and location of the archive. If you are going to create a full backup, type the file name in the File Name line, or use the file name generator (a button to the right of the line). If you select an existing full backup, it will be overwritten. Including [date] in the backup file name will add to the name the time and date of the backup creation formatted as . Example: C:\MyBackup[date].tib. If you are going to create an incremental backup (see 3.
See notes and recommendations for using the FTP server in 1.3.2 Supported storage media. 5. Select whether you want to create a full or incremental backup. If you have not backed up the selected disks/partitions yet, or the full archive seems too old to append incremental changes to it, choose full backup. Otherwise it is recommended that you create an incremental or differential backup (see 3.2 Full, incremental and differential backup). 6.
5.3.1 Archive protection Password The preset is no password. An archive can be protected with a password. To protect the archive data from being accessed by anybody except you, enter a password and its confirmation into the text fields. A password should consist of at least eight symbols and contain both letters (in the upper and lower cases preferably) and numbers to make it more difficult to guess.
This option is effective for file/folders backup only. When creating a disk/partition image, you cannot filter out any files. 5.3.3 Pre/post commands You can specify commands or batch files to be automatically executed before and after the backup procedure. For example, you may want to remove some tmp files from the disk before starting backup or configure a third-party antivirus product to be started each time before the backup starts.
net start “Microsoft Exchange MTA Stacks” net start “Microsoft Exchange POP3” net start “Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine” Create batch files in any text editor (for example, name it pause_services.bat and resume_services.bat). Use Edit buttons to the right of Before data capture command and After data capture command fields, to open the Edit Command window where you can browse folders to find the respective batch files or scripts.
1. Backup process priority The preset is Low. The priority of any process running in a system determines the amount of CPU usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the backup priority will free more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing the backup priority may speed up the backup process due to taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on total CPU usage and other factors. 2. HDD writing speed The preset is Maximum.
5.3.8 Archive splitting Sizeable backups can be split into several files that together make the original backup. A backup file can be split for burning to removable media or saving on an FTP server (data recovery directly from an FTP server requires the archive to be split into files no more than 2GB in size). The preset is Automatic.
Properties -> General -> Advanced Attributes -> Encrypt contents to secure data). Check the option if there are encrypted files in the backup and you want them to be accessed by any user after restore. Otherwise, only the user who encrypted the files/folders will be able to read them. Decryption may also be useful if you are going to restore encrypted files on another computer. These options relate only to file/folders backup. 5.3.10 Media components The preset is disabled.
Corporate administrators need an option to continue a back up despite any errors that might occur without the system popping up an error box. Details of the operation, including errors, if any, could be found in the operation log. With the silent mode enabled, the program will not display interactive windows. Instead, it will automatically handle situations requiring user intervention such as running out disk space (except for handling bad sectors, which is defined as a separate option.
To check archive data integrity, you must have all incremental and differential backups belonging to the archive and the initial full backup. If any of successive backups is missing, validation is not possible. 2. Overwrite data on a tape without user confirmation The preset is enabled. When pulling a tape from the Imported media pool, Acronis True Image Echo Server will warn that you are about to lose data on the tape. To disable this warning, check the middle box. 3.
Chapter 6. Restoring the backup data 6.1 Considerations before recovery 6.1.1 Restore under Windows or boot from CD? As mentioned above (see 2.4 Running Acronis True Image Echo Server), Acronis True Image Echo Server can be run in several ways. We recommend that you first try to restore data running Acronis True Image Echo Server under Windows because this method provides more functionality. Boot from the bootable media or use the Startup Recovery Manager (see 3.
6.1.3 Recovering dynamic volumes Dynamic volumes are volumes located on dynamic disks, i.e. disks managed by Windows Logical Disk Manager (LDM). For more information on dynamic disks, please refer to your Windows documentation. Acronis True Image Echo Server can back up and recover dynamic volumes. A dynamic volume can be recovered over the same volume or unallocated space of a dynamic group.
If the archive is located on removable media, e.g. CD, first insert the last CD and then insert disks in reverse order when Restore Data Wizard prompts. Data recovery directly from an FTP server requires the archive to consist of files no more than 2GB in size. If you suspect that some of the files may be larger, first copy the entire archive (along with the initial full backup) to a local hard disk or network share disk. See notes and recommendations for supporting FTP server in 1.3.
4. Select a folder on your computer where you want to restore selected folders/files (a target folder). You can restore data to their original location or choose another folder, if necessary. 5. Select files and folders to restore. You can choose to restore all data or browse the archive contents and select the desired folders or files. 6. Select the options for the restoration process (that is, pre/post restoration commands, restoration process priority, file-level security settings etc.).
7. Set filters for the specific types of files that are not to be restored. For example, you may want hidden and system files and folders, as well as files with .~, .tmp and .bak extensions, not to be restored from the archive. You can also apply custom filters, using the common Windows masking rules. For example, to exclude all files with extension .exe, add *.exe. My???.exe will reject all .exe files with names consisting of five symbols and starting with “my”.
6.3.1 Starting the Restore Data Wizard Start the Restore Data Wizard by clicking on the restore operation icon in the main program window. 6.3.2 Archive selection 1. Select the archive. If the archive is located in Acronis Secure Zone, select it to choose the archive at the next step. If the archive is located on removable media, e.g. CD, first insert the last CD and then insert disks in reverse order when Restore Data Wizard prompts.
Restore specified files or folders With this selection, you will be further offered to select where to restore selected folders/files (original or new location), choose files/folders to be restored and so on. These steps look like those in file archive restore. However, watch your selection; if you want to restore files instead of disk/partition, uncheck the unnecessary folders. Otherwise you will restore a lot of extra files. Then you will be taken directly to Restoration Summary screen (6.3.
6.3.4 Selecting a disk/partition to restore The selected backup can contain images of several partitions or even disks. Select which disk/partition to restore. Disks and partitions images contain a copy of track 0 along with the MBR (Master Boot Record). It appears in this window in a separate line. You can choose whether to restore MBR and track 0 by checking the respective box. Restore the MBR if it is critical to your system boot. 6.3.
• access all Windows Restore Points on the recovered disk, • access VSS snapshots via Windows Vista's "Previous Versions" feature on the recovered disk, • keep licensing and other information for installed appliacations as some programs may use NT disk signature for licensing and other purposes, • keep the existing scheduled task without the need to re-create or edit it, as all scheduled tasks of the program use the NT disk signature for disk identification. 6.3.6 Selecting a target disk/partition 1.
If there are partitions on the target disk, you will be prompted by the Nonempty Destination Hard Disk Drive window stating that the destination disk contains partitions, perhaps with data. You will have to select between: • Yes, I want to delete all the partitions on the destination hard disk before restoring – all existing partitions will be deleted and all their data will be lost. • No, I do not want to delete partitions – no existing partition will be deleted, discontinuing the recovery operation.
6.3.9 Changing the restored partition size and location You can resize and relocate a partition by dragging it or its borders with a mouse or by entering corresponding values in the appropriate fields. Using this feature, you can redistribute the disk space between partitions being restored. In this case, you will have to restore the partition to be reduced first.
6.3.12 Using Acronis Universal Restore Acronis Universal Restore is an add-on to Acronis True Image Echo Server. It is purchased separately and installed from a separate setup file. The following is true for Acronis True Image Echo Server installations including Acronis Universal Restore. 1. Using Acronis Universal Restore will help you create a bootable system clone on different hardware (for more information see 3.6 Acronis Universal Restore).
6.3.13 Setting restore options Select the options for the restoration process (that is, pre/post restoration commands, restoration process priority etc.). You may Use default options or Set the options manually. If you set the options manually, the settings will be applied only to the current restore task. Alternatively, you can edit the default options from the current screen. Then your settings will be saved as default. See 6.4 Setting restore options for more information. 6.3.
6.4.1 Files to exclude from restoration The preset is Restore all files. You can set the default filters for the specific types of files that are not to be restored. Use the common Windows masking rules. For example, to exclude all files with extension .exe, add *.exe. My???.exe will exclude all .exe files with names, consisting of five symbols and starting with “my”. This option is effective only when restoring files from file/folders archives.
This option is effective only when restoring files from file/folders archives. 6.4.6 Specifying mass storage drivers This option appears only in those computers’ options, where Acronis Universal Restore is installed. Acronis Universal Restore is an option to Acronis True Image Echo Server. It should be purchased separately and installed from a separate setup file. For more information see 3.6 Acronis Universal Restore.
4. Restore file and folders without full path The preset is disabled. When enabled, files and folders are restored directly to the folder that you specified as a target folder. When disabled, the full path to the files and folders that exists in the backup will be reproduced within the target folder. 5. Change SID after restoration is finished The preset is disabled. Acronis True Image Echo Server can generate a unique security identifier (SID) for the restored system.
time. Please close all other applications that use the disks (such as Windows Disk Management) before starting the dynamic volume creation wizard. 6.5.1 Creating dynamic volumes Acronis True Image Echo Server can perform this operation in standalone (rescue) mode as well as under Windows control. Having booted to the Acronis environment, you can easily prepare the desired dynamic group on bare metal or a computer with a nonWindows operating system.
For a spanned volume, amount of space on each disk is selected independently. If only one disk is selected, a simple volume is created. Striped, mirrored and RAID 5 volumes imply even distribution of data between disks. Therefore, the volume must occupy the same space on each disk. If you set different values, your latest setting will be applied to all the disks. If the set value is more than unallocated space on any disk, the minimal available space amount will be applied to all the disks.
Chapter 7. Scheduling tasks Acronis True Image Echo Server allows you to schedule periodic backup and archive validation tasks. Doing so will give you peace of mind, knowing that your data are safe. You can create more than one independently scheduled task. For example, you can back up your current project daily and back up the application disk once a week. All the scheduled tasks appear in the Scheduled Tasks window, where you can start, stop, edit, delete and rename them.
• Manually later – the task will be saved, but not launched automatically.
In the upper field, enter a user name. Enter a password twice in two fields below. 7. At the final step, the task configuration is displayed. Up to this point, you can click Back to make changes in the created task. If you click Cancel, all settings will be lost. Click Finish to save the task. 8. The task schedule and default name appear in the Scheduled Tasks window. You can rename the task, if need be. 7.1.
If the computer is off when the scheduled time comes, the task won’t be performed, but you can force the missed task to launch at the next system startup by checking a box under the Start time fields. 7.1.2 Setting up weekly execution If you select weekly execution, set the Start time, specify the task execution periodicity in the Every x weeks box (every week, every two weeks, etc.) and check the days on which to execute the task.
7.1.3 Setting up monthly execution If you select monthly execution, set the Start time and days on which to execute the task: • Day – on the specified date • The – on the specified day (e.g. on second Tuesday or fourth Friday); select this from the drop-down lists. If the computer is off when the scheduled time comes, the task won’t be performed, but you can force the missed task to launch at the next system startup by checking a box under the Start time fields. 7.1.
If the computer is off when the scheduled time comes, the task won’t be performed, but you can force the missed task to launch at the next system startup by checking a box under the Start time fields. 7.1.5 Setting up event-driven execution Execution on increasing or decreasing free space on a disk. The task will be started when the free space on the either disk selected for the backup changes by the specified value. The preset is 20MB. 7.
There are two ways of changing the task parameters. Editing allows you to change any task parameters. This is performed in the same way as creation, however, the earlier selected options will be set, so you have to enter only the changes. To edit a task, select it and click Edit on the toolbar. If you want to change only the task start trigger (time or event), click Schedule on the toolbar. Then you will have to perform only scheduling steps, leaving other settings the same.
Chapter 8. Managing the Acronis Secure Zone The Acronis Secure Zone is a special partition for storing archives on the computer system itself. For more information see 3.3 Acronis Secure Zone. When you click Manage Acronis Secure Zone in the menu, the program searches for the zone on all local drives. If a zone is found, the wizard will offer to manage it (consolidate or remove backups, resize or change the password) or delete. If there is no zone, you’ll be prompted to create it.
4. In the next window, enter the Acronis Secure Zone size or drag the slider to select any size between the minimum and maximum ones. The minimum size is approximately 35MB, depending on the geometry of the hard disk. The maximum size is equal to the disk’s unallocated space plus the total free space on all partitions selected at the previous step. When creating the zone, the program will first use the unallocated space. If there is not enough unallocated space, the selected partitions will be decreased.
5. You can set a password to restrict access to the zone. The program will ask for the password at any operation relating to it, such as data backup and recovery, mounting images or validating archives on the zone, using the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager with the F11 key, resizing and deleting the zone. Acronis True Image Echo Server repair or update will not affect the password.
8.3 Changing the password for Acronis Secure Zone 1. When prompted by the wizard, select Manage Acronis Secure Zone. 2. Select Change password. 3. Enter the new password and confirm it or select Do not use password protection. You can also select a secret question that will be asked in case you forget the password. 4. To perform the password change operation, click Proceed in the final wizard window. 8.
4. [Consolidation]: Select the backup. Backups created earlier will be consolidated into the selected backup. Backups created later will remain untouched. [Remove]: Select the backup you want to remove. Be careful: all dependent incremental and differential backups will be also removed. 5. After you click Proceed, Acronis True Image Echo Server will start backup consolidation\deletion. 8.5 Deleting Acronis Secure Zone Acronis Secure Zone deletion will destroy all backups stored in the zone.
Chapter 9. Creating bootable media 9.1 Creating Acronis rescue media You can run Acronis True Image Echo Server on a bare metal or on a crashed computer that cannot boot. You can also back up disks on a non-Windows computer, copying all its data sector-by-sector into the backup archive. To do so, you will need bootable media with the standalone Acronis True Image Echo Server version.
3. Select the type of bootable media (CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW or 3.5” diskettes) to create. If your BIOS has this feature, you can create other bootable media such as removable USB flash drives. You can also choose to create a bootable disk ISO image or save bootable data on the RIS server. When using 3.5” diskettes, you will be able to write on a diskette (or a set of the diskettes) only one component at a time — for example, Acronis True Image Echo Server.
9.2 Creating a Win PE ISO with Acronis True Image Echo Server Windows Preinstallation Environment (Win PE) is a minimal Windows system based on the Windows XP Professional and the Windows Server 2003 kernels. Win PE is commonly used by OEMs and corporations for deployment, test, diagnostic and system repair purposes.
Chapter 10. Operations with archives 10.1 Validating backup archives You can check the integrity of an archive to be certain that the archive is not damaged. Here’s how to run a one-time validation task. For how to schedule regular archive validation, see 7.1 Creating scheduled tasks. 1. To start the Backup Archive Validation Wizard, select Validate Backup Archive in the main window or in the Tools group or click Validate Backup Archive on the toolbar. 2. Select the archive to validate.
Exploring images and file-level archives lets you view their contents and copy the selected files to the hard disk. Mounting images as virtual drives lets you access them as though they were physical drives.
If you added a comment to the archive, it will be displayed to the right of the drives tree. If the archive was protected with a password, Acronis True Image Echo Server will ask for it. Further steps will not be enabled until you enter the correct password. 3. The program opens a Windows Explorer window displaying the archive contents.
If you added a comment to the archive, it will be displayed to the right of the drives tree. If the archive was protected with a password, Acronis True Image Echo Server will ask for it. Neither the partitions layout, nor the Next button will be enabled until you enter the correct password. 3. If you selected an archive containing incremental images, Acronis True Image Echo Server will suggest that you select one of the successive incremental images by its creation date/time.
5. Select whether you want to mount image in Read-only or Read/Write mode. 6. If you select Read/Write mode, the program assumes that the connected image will be modified, and creates an incremental archive file to capture the changes. It is strongly recommended that you list the forthcoming changes in the comment to this file. 7. The program displays a summary containing a single operation. Click Proceed to connect the selected partition image as a virtual disk. 8.
2. Select the archive from the drives tree. The file name-based consolidation does not support Acronis Secure Zone, so it is not displayed in the tree. For a backup consolidation in Acronis Secure Zone, see 8.4 Managing backups in the Acronis Secure Zone. An archive MyBackup consisting of one full (MyBackup) and four incremental backups (MyBackup2-5) is selected 3. The program displays a list of backups belonging to the selected archive with the backups creation date and time.
The clone archive will consist of MyBackup3 and MyBackup5, however, their numbers will be zero (no number) and 2. MyBackup3 will change into a full backup 4. Choose location and name for the archive copy. By default, the program suggests the same location and the source archive name with (1) added. New archive will be created in the same folder and named MyBackup(1) 5. The program displays the summary window. Click Proceed to start consolidation.
6:54:40 PM. You can make sure of this by starting the consolidation wizard again, selecting the archive MyBackup(1) and proceeding to the next window. The resulting archive contents 83 Copyright © Acronis, Inc.
Chapter 11. Notifications and event tracing Sometimes a backup or restore procedure can last for 30 minutes or more. Acronis True Image Echo Server can notify you when it is finished through the WinPopup service or email. The program can also duplicate messages issued during the operation or send you the full operation log after operation completion. By default all notifications are disabled. 11.
1. Enable the Messenger service on both the computer executing the task and the computer that will receive messages. The Messenger service is disabled by default in Windows Server 2003 family. Change the service Startup mode to Automatic and start the service. 2. Select Tools -> Options -> Notifications -> Windows Messenger (WinPopup): Provide the name of the computer to which notifications will be sent.
The left panel can contain up to 50 logs. If there are more, you can browse the list using the More and Less buttons with the left and right arrows. To delete a log, select it and click Delete. If any step was terminated by an error, the corresponding log will be marked with a red circle with a white “X” inside. The right window features the list of steps contained in the selected log.
An additional choice is available - recording All events, Warnings and Errors, or Errors only. 11.4.2 SNMP notifications Acronis True Image Echo Server can provide the following Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) objects to SNMP management applications: 1.3.6.1.4.1.24769.100.200.1.0 - string identifying a type of occurred event (Information, Warning, Error) 1.3.6.1.4.1.24769.100.200.2.
2. Click Next. 3. Now you can turn on/off System Restore on all your hard disk(s) partitions at once or do it individually for each partition. Note that you cannot turn off System Restore on the system disk (partition), yet keep it on other disks (partitions). 4. Click Next. 5. The program lists the configured changes. You can click Back to choose different settings. If you click Cancel, all new settings will be lost. Click Proceed to apply the changes.
Chapter 12. Working with a virtual environment Virtual machine technologies provide a powerful tool to help accelerate the development, testing, deployment and support of PC applications. As with physical machines, virtual machine (VM) data needs to be backed up periodically to prevent its loss due to hardware failure or human errors.
The procedure is the same as with physical machines. See details in Chapter 6. Restoring the backup data. The alternative way of recovering a VM is by converting the image (.tib) file to a virtual disk file of appropriate format and adding this disk to the VM. This is the easiest way to recover data on a virtual machine. 12.3 Using the disk conversion feature A virtual hard disk is a file that provides storage for a virtual machine.
This allows: • the fastest replacement of the physical machine with the previously created virtual copy • moving multiple workloads from legacy physical servers to virtual machines to reduce hardware maintenance and power consumption costs. The alternative method of physical to virtual migration is by restoring a physical disk from an image to a virtual machine. The procedure is the same as with restoring physical machines.
2. Select the disk image to convert. If the image is located on an Acronis Backup Server or in the Acronis Secure Zone, select Personal backup location or Acronis Secure Zone, to select the image during the next step. 3. If there are several disks in the image, select one to convert. 4. Choose a type of the disk to be created. 5. Specify the path to the file to be created. The file can be directed to any storage supported by Acronis True Image Echo Server, except for the Acronis Secure Zone.
Chapter 13. Transferring the system to a new disk 13.1 General information Sooner or later computer users find that their hard disk is just too small. If you don’t have space for more data, you can add another disk specifically for data storage. For example, you might find that your hard disk does not have enough space for the operating system and installed applications, preventing you from updating your software. In this case, you have to transfer the system to a higher-capacity hard disk.
No data will be lost because the original disk is only being read (no partitions are changed or resized) until data transfer is completed. We recommend that you do not delete data from the old disk until you are sure it is correctly transferred to the new disk, the server boots up from it and all applications work. 13.3 Executing transfers 13.3.1 Selecting Clone mode You will see the Clone mode window just after the welcome window. We recommend using automatic mode in most cases.
You can determine the source and destination using the information provided in this window (disk number, capacity, label, partition and file system information). 13.3.3 Selecting destination disk After you select the source disk, select the destination where the disk information will be copied. The previously selected source becomes grayed-out and disabled for selection. If either disk is unpartitioned, the program will automatically recognize it as the destination and bypass this step.
13.3.4 Partitioned destination disk At this point, the program checks to see if the destination disk is free. If not, you will be prompted by the Nonempty Destination Hard Disk window stating that the destination disk contains partitions, perhaps with data. You will have to select between: • Delete partitions on the destination hard disk – all existing partitions will be deleted during cloning and all their data will be lost.
• Keep data – leave the old disk partitions and data intact • Destroy data – destroy all data on the old disk. If you are going to sell or give away your old disk, we recommend that you make sure you destroyed the data on it. If you are going to keep it for data storage, you can create a new partition layout on it. In this case, the disk will be ready right after cloning is complete.
The second method takes more time, but makes it impossible to recover data afterwards, even with special equipment. The first method is less secure, but is still suitable for most cases. 13.3.
If you elect to transfer information "as is," a new partition will be created for every old one with the same size and type, file system and label. The unused space will become unallocated. Further, you will be able to use the unallocated space to create new partitions or to enlarge the existing partitions with special tools, such as Acronis Disk Director Suite. As a rule, "as is" transfers are not recommended, as they leave much unallocated space on the new disk.
Along with the hard disk number, you will also see disk capacity, label, partition and file system information. Different partition types, including primary, logical and unallocated space are marked with different colors. If you selected manual partition creation earlier, the partition layout will look different. This partitioning method is described below. 13.3.11 Cloning summary In the next window, you will see a list of briefly described operations to be performed on the disks.
Along with the hard disk number, you will see disk capacity, label, partition and file system information. Different partition types, including primary, logical and unallocated space are marked with different colors. To resize either partition, check the Proceed relayout box. If you are satisfied with the partition layout shown, uncheck this box (if checked). Clicking Next, you will proceed to the cloning summary window.
Chapter 14. Adding a new hard disk If you don't have enough space for your data, you can either replace the old disk with a new, higher-capacity one (data transfers to new disks are described in the previous chapter), or add a new disk to store data, leaving the system on the old disk. If the server has space for another disk, it would be easier to add a data disk drive than to clone a system one. To add a new disk, you must first install it in your server. 14.
turns to four arrows, it is pointed at the partition, so you can move it to the left or right (if there is unallocated space near it). Having provided the new partition location and size, you can input a label for the new partition. If you make a mistake at partitioning, click Back to redo the process. Finally, you will be taken back to the partition layout screen.
Chapter 15. Command-line mode and scripting Acronis True Image Echo Server supports the command-line mode and enables backup automation by executing XML scripts. The command-line mode functionality is somewhat limited as compared to the GUI mode. You will not be able to perform operations that require the reboot of the system, such as restore a system partition or clone a system drive. These operations only can be done through the GUI. Scripting is intended only for backup. 15.
Backs up specified files and folders /password:[password] /asz /net_user:[username] /net_password:[password] /ftp_user /ftp_password /incremental /differential /compression:[0…9] /split:[size in MB] /reboot /log:[file name] /log_net_user:[remote user] /log_net_password:[password] /exclude_names:[names] /exclude_masks:[masks] /exclude_system /exclude_hidden deploy /filename:[file name] /password:[password] /asz /index:N /net_user:[username] /net_password:[password] /ftp_user /ftp_password /oss_numbers /r
consolidate Creates a consistent copy of the archive which will contain only the specified backups convert Converts an image to virtual disk format for using with a virtual machine list Lists available drives and partitions.
Secure Zone size, free space and contents using the generated file names asz_delete_fi les Deletes the most recent backup in the archive located in the Acronis Secure Zone /filename:[file name] /password:[password] /log:[file name] /log_net_user:[remote user] /log_net_password:[password] /partition:[partition number] Deletes the Acronis Secure Zone /password:[password] /oss_numbers /reboot /log:[file name] /log_net_user:[remote user] /log_net_password:[password] clone /reboot /harddisk:[disk number]
access /ftp_user:[username] Specify a user name for access to an FTP server FTP server /ftp_password:[password] Specify a password for access to an FTP server FTP server Set the backup type to incremental. If not specified or there is no basic full backup, a full backup will be created Any Set the backup type to differential. If not specified or there is no basic full backup, a full backup will be created Any Specify the data compression level.
may contain data of more than one hard disk. In that case, separate disk numbers by commas, e.g.: /harddisk:1,3 By specifying /harddisk:DYN you will back up all dynamic volumes present in the system. /partition:[partition number] Specifies the partitions to include into the image file. The list of available partitions is provided by /list. Partition numbers are specified as -, e.g.: /partition:1-1,1-2,3-1 Dynamic volumes are specified with prefix DYN, e.g.
folder. For example: /file_partition:D /filename:"\1.tib” Dynamic volumes are specified with prefix DYN, e.g.: /file_partition:DYN1 /filename:”\1.tib” /harddisk:[disk number] /partition:[partition number] Specifies the basic hard disks to restore. Specifies the partitions to restore. Dynamic volumes are specified with prefix DYN, e.g.: /partition:DYN1 /target_harddisk:[disk number] Specifies the hard disk number where the image will be restored.
Then, with the /preserve_mbr option, the restored partition’s entry will occupy the upper empty position in the target disk MBR. Thus, the target disk MBR is preserved. If not specified, the restored partition’s entry will occupy the same position as in the source disk MBR saved in the image. If the position is not empty, the existing entry will be moved to another position. The following options are available when using the Acronis Universal Restore add-on to Acronis True Image Echo Server.
/net_user:[username] Specifies the username for logon to network share to save the resulting archive /net_user:[password] Specifies the password for logon to network share to save the resulting archive Convert /target_filename:[file name] Specifies the path to and name of the virtual disk file to be created. The file extension corresponds to the type of the virtual machine to which the virtual disk will be added: VMware virtual machine - .vmdk MS virtual machine and Citrix XenServer - .
contents with the /list/filename command an use the number from the Idx column. /letter Assigns letters to the mounted drives. This option is used with /partition option only. Unplug /letter:X Specifies the virtual drive to be disconnected by letter. /letter:all Disconnects all virtual drives. asz_create /password:[password] Sets a password for the Acronis Secure Zone. /harddisk:X Specifies the hard disk number where the Acronis Secure Zone will be created.
• This will create an image named 1.tib of the partitions 2-1 and 1-3. The image will be saved to the C:\Test\ folder. trueimagecmd /create /asz /partition:2-1,1-3 • This will create an image of the partitions 2-1 and 1-3 in the Acronis Secure Zone. trueimagecmd /create /filename:"\Test\1.tib" /partition:21,1-3 /file_partition:3-1 • This will create an image named 1.tib of the partitions 2-1 and 1-3. The image will be saved in the folder \Test on partition 3-1.
trueimagecmd /deploy /filename:z:\Server30Cdrive.tib /partition:1-1 /target_partition:2-1 /type:active /password:123qwe • This will restore partition 1-1, stored in image Server30Cdrive.tib, protected with password ‘123qwe’, to partition 2-1. The restored partition will be of active type. trueimagecmd /deploy_mbr /harddisk:1 /asz:2 /index:3 /password:pswd • This will restore MBR from the image of hard disk 1 to the same hard disk 1.
trueimagecmd /consolidate /filename:\\smbsrv\Archives\Kons.tib /target_filename:D:\Kons_new.tib /include pits:2,4,5 • This will create on the disk D: an archive consisting of three files Kons_new.tib, (pit 2 of the archive \\smbsrv\Archives\Kons.tib, former \\smbsrv\Archives\Kons2.tib) Kons_new2.tib (pit 4, former \\smbsrv\Archives\Kons4.tib) and Kons_new3.tib (pit 5, former \\smbsrv\Archives\Kons5.tib). 6. Convert an image to virtual disk trueimagecmd /convert /filename:C:\MyBackup.
trueimagecmd /asz_files /password:aszpw • This will list the Acronis Secure Zone size, free space and contents using generated filenames. In our example, the Acronis Secure Zone contains three archives. The archive AAA2 (2 stands for number of backups in the archive) consists of: - full (base) image backup created on 2/16/2007 at 3:43 - incremental backup created on 4/25/2007 at 11:44. The archive FAAA (F means that this is a file-level archive) contains one base file-level backup.
trueimagecmd /explore /filename:\\myserver\backup\mybackup.tib /net_user:john /net_password:qwerty • This will connect all images, stored in file mybackup.tib on the network drive, as virtual drives. 15.1.5 Ebasrvdb.exe tool: generate an XML file with the backup mapping details Syntax: EBaSrvDB.
15.2 Scripting 15.2.1 Script execution parameters Scripts are executed by the TrueImageTerminal.exe utility located in the Acronis True Image Echo Server installation folder (i.e. C:\Program Files\Acronis\TrueImageEchoServer). This utility is also used to monitor backup progress. TrueImageTerminal execution parameters: TrueImageTerminal.exe [arguments] Arguments include the following: /help – outputs help information about TrueImageTerminal.exe parameters.
Compression: specifies the backup compression level. Can be None, Low, Normal, High. Incremental: specifies whether you need to create an incremental image file. If equal to ”false” (or “0”), a complete image file will be created. If there is already a file with the name specified, it will be replaced without warnings. If equal to “true” (or “1”) and there is already a file with the name specified, an incremental image will be created. Otherwise the program will create a complete image file.
